Political System

ARTICLES ABOUT POLITICAL SYSTEM BY DATE - PAGE 4

Herman Cain just doesn't get it. His allegiance to the Horatio Alger myth makes him far too dismissive of real world problems facing recent college graduates. Cain demonstrated how out of touch he is when asked his opinion about the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations now gripping New York and other cities around the country. Many of the protesters are young people from middle-class backgrounds and with college educations. Cain tore into the protesters. In his view, they are nothing but a bunch of whining, lazy losers who can't muster enough gumption to grab their piece of the American pie. "If you don't have a job and you are not rich, blame yourself," he chided, adding a finger-wagging explanation that his parents didn't raise him to look enviously at those with more wealth.

Can a coffee kingpin give American politics the jolt it needs to snap out of its tea party hangover? Don't hold your breath. But Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has made a valiant attempt, by way of an appeal he sent out by blast email and published in full-page ads in The New York Times and USA Today. "I love our country. I am a beneficiary of the promise of America," wrote the Brooklyn-born, self-made industry leader. "I am frustrated by our political leaders' steadfast refusal to recognize that, for every day they perpetuate partisan conflict and put ideology over country, America and Americans suffer from the combined effects of paralysis and uncertainty.

The Italians supplanted the Ottoman Turks in the area around Tripoli in 1911 and did not relinquish their hold until 1943 when defeated in World War II . Libya then passed to UN administration and achieved independence in 1951. Following a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-QADHAFI began to espouse his own political system, the Third Universal Theory. The system is a combination of socialism and Islam derived in part from tribal practices and is supposed to be implemented by the Libyan people themselves in a unique form of "direct democracy.

'Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story' Though treating women's oppression as a political issue isn't exactly new, the clarity with which it's spelled out in "Scheherazade, Tell Me a Story" is both bold and brave. Together with writer Waheed Hamed, director Yousry Nasrallah presents women's sexuality as an expression of self-determination, making clear the parallels with an ever-degenerating political system. Mona Zaki plays Hebba, a smart, sexy TV host who grills guests about corruption and the tainted world of Egyptian politics.

It was a scene out of a Norman Rockwell painting. On a sunny Saturday morning in front of a Tucson supermarket, a member of Congress was taking part in a commonplace ritual of democracy: meeting with and hearing the problems and concerns of citizens. No pomp, no security, no big deal. The scene was shattered, of course, when a man with a gun shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 other people, killing six. That horrific crime has left many people feeling that it exposes something deeply flawed in modern America, particularly our political system.

The Democrats represent the poor and needy. The Republicans represent the rich and greedy. The fact is that politicians represent the powerful. The 98 percent without power or influence have the freedom to choose on which side of the feed trough, the right or the left, to line up and dip our greedy little snouts. Having the power to distribute wealth is a dazzling and addicting experience, which is why the men who created this democracy mandated term limits. The stagnation, corruption and decay that pervade our political system are the results of the lust for and the addiction to power.

— The 2010 election is turning into a class war. The wealthy and the powerful started it. This is a strange development. President Barack Obama, after all, has been working overtime to save capitalism. Wall Street is doing just fine and the rich are getting richer again. The financial reform bill passed by Congress was moderate, not radical. Nonetheless, corporations and affluent individuals are pouring tens of millions of dollars into attack ads aimed almost exclusively at Democrats.

High school civics teachers have always had it tough. The Constitution, the three branches of government, checks and balances -- not exactly eye-popping, exciting stuff. But nowadays those charged with pimping the integrity of the American political system have an even tougher sell, thanks to an increasingly dense web of lies and bent truths spun by the grown-ups running -- or hoping to run -- the country. "My students, it seems their perception is simply that politicians lie," said Jeffrey Stewart, a politics and U.S. government teacher at Conant High School in Hoffman Estates.

Barnes & Noble, 55 Old Orchard Center, Skokie, 847-676-2230 1. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle (Plume, $11.20 paper): A spiritual manifesto aimed at improving yourself. 2. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult (Atria, $18.86): A novel about redemption and love involving a Death Row inmate who wants to donate his heart to the sister of the girl he was convicted of killing. 3. The Appeal by John Grisham (Doubleday, $18.86): John Grisham's new novel is an indictment of special interests and the political system.